CubeSmart Sells Memphis Storage Portfolio for $31.3 Million

CubeSmart sold the facilities in nine separate Oct. 15 warranty deeds for a combined $31.3 million.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 7777 Moriarty Road for $2.7 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 11 LLC. Built in 1989, it contains 55,850 square feet and sits on 3.5 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $2.1 million, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 5141 American Way for $1.9 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 12 LLC. Built in 1984, it contains 45,359 square feet and sits on 2.7 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $1.2 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 6390 Winchester Road for $1.4 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 13 LLC. Built in 1985, it contains 41,790 square feet and sits on 2.3 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $1.1 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 4705 Winchester Road for $2.7 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 14 LLC. Built in 1981, it contains 61,065 square feet and sits on 3.4 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $1.4 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 3040 Austin Peay Highway for $4.9 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 15 LLC. Built in 1973, it contains 105,391 square feet and sits on 4.8 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $2.3 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 3686 Germantown Road for $5.7 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 17 LLC. Built in 1986, it contains 96,248 square feet and sits on 5.6 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $3.4 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facilities at 3670 Old Getwell Road and 3577 New Getwell Road for $3 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 18 LLC. Built in 1982, the Old Getwell parcel contains 36,118 square feet and sits on 1.9 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $748,000, according to the assessor. And built in 1984, the New Getwell parcel contains 69,975 square feet and sits on 5.3 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $1.4 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 9275 Macon Road for $4.8 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 19 LLC. Built in 1994, it contains 66,643 square feet and sits on 7.6 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $3 million, according to the assessor.

CubeSmart sold the storage facility at 6140 E. Shelby Drive for $4.2 million to WCP/DSSH Holdings 20 LLC. Built in 1990, it contains 100,444 square feet and sits on 7.2 acres. Its 2013 appraisal is $3.2 million, according to the assessor.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

FedEx Adds Flat-Rate Shipping

FedEx Corp. announced a flat-rate shipping option on Monday aimed at individuals and small businesses that don’t ship very often, including mom-and-pop sellers on eBay.

The new “One Rate” option from the company’s FedEx Express air-shipping unit competes with the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail Flat Rate.

Normally, FedEx charges based on a combination of weight and distance traveled. Surcharges for fuel and other items also complicate pricing, and weighing packages can complicate the shipping process for users who don’t do it very often.

FedEx said it will offer free boxes and envelopes in 12 different sizes. Customers will pay a flat rate for each package based on where it’s going among three zones. The One Rate option is available for U.S. domestic shipments for overnight, 2-day and 3-day shipping.

FedEx has been piloting the program in several cities, rolled it out nationally last week, and announced it on Monday.

– The Associated Press

Pitts Elected 2014 Chairman Of Insurance Group

That group is an association of top regional, national and international commercial insurance and employee benefits intermediaries worldwide. Pitts was elected during the organization’s 100th annual Insurance Leadership Forum this month in Colorado.

Council members are market leaders who each year place 85 percent of U.S. commercial property and casualty insurance premiums and administer billions of dollars in employee benefits accounts.

Pitts also is the founder of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club organization.

– Andy Meek

Haslam Adviser Listed As Campaign Consultant

A newspaper’s review of state lobbyist registrations shows Tom Ingram is identified three times as either a “campaign consultant to the governor” or “consultant to campaign for governor.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported it looked at 17 registrations Ingram filed with the Tennessee Ethics Commission over the past 22 months.

Gov. Bill Haslam and Ingram have said previously that Ingram’s advice to Haslam did not involve campaign consulting for his 2014 re-election bid.

The filings also described Ingram as a “consultant,” ‘’general consultant,” ‘’independent consultant” and sometimes as a “political consultant.”

Ingram told the newspaper that “there’s absolutely nothing inconsistent with what the governor and I have said about our relationship. ... Now, what the specific language on the disclosure is, I don’t have a clue.”

He said someone else at his firm, The Ingram Group, filed the paperwork and he wasn’t aware of the specific terms used on the disclosures.

Records show that a worker at the firm emailed the registrations, which involved Ingram’s 2012 and 2013 registrations for Xerox Corp. and a 2013 filing for McGuiness Group.

“I’m just telling you there’s nothing inconsistent about anything we have said about the relationship,” Ingram said. “And you can dig around all you want to.”

Both men have said Ingram was personally retained by Haslam as a consultant for work related to the administration of state government.

Former Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said he will review the registrations before refiling a complaint against Haslam, a Republican, with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance later this month.

– The Associated Press

Mississippi Casino Revenue Drops

Mississippi casinos won less money from gamblers in September for the 13th month out of 15, as casinos along the Mississippi River continued to lag badly.

The 12 coastal casinos won $88 million from gamblers, up 1.7 percent from September 2012. The 18 river casinos from Tunica to Natchez won $82 million, down 10 percent from a year earlier.

Revenue statewide is down about 4.5 percent over the last 12 months. Over the last 12 months, Mississippi casinos have collected only about 75 percent of what they collected in the peak revenue year of 2007.

The numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which aren’t required to report winnings to the state.

– The Associated Press

US Economists Upbeat On Economic Growth

Despite uncertainty in Washington and rising oil prices and interest rates, companies are upbeat on the prospects for economic growth in the next year, according to a quarterly survey of business economists.

But economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics weren’t as optimistic about hiring, according to the survey released Monday. Only 27 percent reported rising employment at their firms from July through September, down from 29 percent in the second quarter. And 37 percent expected their companies to expand payrolls in the next six months, down from 39 percent in the second quarter.

The slower hiring occurred even as sales and profit margins grew during the third quarter, according to the survey.

Still, optimism about future economic growth remained strong last quarter. Almost 70 percent of the economists in the survey predicted gross domestic product growth of 2-to-3 percent, with another 19 percent expecting growth of 1-to-2 percent. The figures are nearly identical to those from the second-quarter survey, released in July.